Smell of Success
by Anna Nimmie Tee
Summary: A perfume seller helps Lina's and Gourry's relationship move along a little bit.


SMELL OF SUCCESS

by Anna Nimmie Tee

Slayers copyright 1991-2001 by Hajime Kanzaka/RuiAraizumi/Kadokawa Shoten/TV TOKYO/SOFTX/Marubeni

The usual disclaimers that the Slayers characters are only borrowed from Kanzaka et al for fans' amusement.

I thought I'd never write another fanfic, but this one snuck into my head and asked to be let loose. Forgive me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jelana the Scent Seller wrinkled her snout in disgust as the couple, fawning over each other and to all appearances lost in love, strolled by. "Humph. THEY won't last as a couple," she muttered into her handkerchief as she blew her nose into it. "They absolutely stink together."

This was literal. Her particular fox clan had exceptional senses of smell, which made them the best in the perfume and insense business here in the Outer World. Those who had the money to pay the fees, also found the fox humanoids exceptional matchmakers, because the foxes could tell by the blends of smell of body chemistries who might make the best marriages. They were even more precise than the fortunetellers. And if smells were just a little off, the wily foxes had the perfumes and ungents for sale to make them blend better. At an extravagent price, of course.

The little silver fox, a rare type among her people, had the best "nose" among of them all as well. Her husband claimed he married her not only for the way her beautiful fur reflected the moonlight but also for her ebony nose and silver tongue that brought in the gold.

The day was the kind of cool, sunny day that quickened the pulse and encouraged people to get out and shop. Or so Jelana hoped as she adjusted her dark green, fringed shawl over the shoulders of her light green, full-skirted, linen dress. Soft thoughts of her husband floated through her mind as she glanced down at the pin of a serene-faced moon her husband had purchased for her that morning. It was market day, and a rainbow of awnings over booths of varied sizes lined the wide, dusty main street of the small city. The chaos of smells of food, goods, and people, accentuated by the heat, would have confused most other species, but not her.

Jelana placed her brightest colored and most fanciful, though not most expensive, bottles of scent on her stepped display table, where the sunlight would glint and entice customers. Her cheapest and most stable colognes were in those bottles. She did not want heat from the sun destroying her more expensive perfumes. The cheap would draw, and she would bring out and "suggest" the better wares once she had an interested customer. She would have admired the colors herself, if she had not been color blind.

A ruckus from the inn across from her booth made Jelana's ears twitch. It wasn't unusual, for a tavern with outdoor trestle tables was just asking for trouble. She cursed the town official who had given her this space. Sure enough, that little henna-haired sorceress, feeding herself like a starved, savage kit, had blown up her blond, leonine companion, who had been her equal in snarfing up as much of the inn's foodstocks as possible. Jelana's ears laid back in alarm as the swordsman flew to land face-down in front of her booth, and she quickly grabbed the front of the display counter to steady it and the glass containers upon it.

"Damn it, Gourry, that was my last spring roll you stole!" came the harsh, high-pitched yell from across the way.

"Whadda ya mean?" he answered as he picked himself up, spit out the dust he had eaten in his landing, and brushed himself off. "It had been on MY plate to begin with." He then used his feet to smooth out the sprawled victim silhouette he had left in the dusty road. "Ow," he exclaimed, putting his left hand to his left side. "I think you broke a couple ribs that time."

"Now there's couple that shouldn't be together," a customer at the next booth laughed.

"Hmmm. Thanks for the idea, jellyfish! Waiter, six orders of the babyback ribs!" the sorceress ordered over her shoulder. She jumped over the short fence surrounding the outdoor eating area and, dodging several carts and pedestrians, crossed the street to arrive in front of Jelana's booth. "Geez, Gourry, are you getting delicate in your old age?" she teased but then offered, "Here, let me heal you."

Gourry grumbled and painfully lifted his arm to allow her to heal his ribs. Jelana's black ears perked up, the multiple sliver rings in them jingling, and her nostrils flared in suprise. The blend was exquisite, but a little, well, how to describe it? "Unworldly," she thought. "They're obviously human, but touched by something chaotic. But there's also desire and fear in the mix. Hmmm." Her muzzle grew a little smilier. She knew what was needed, and she could supply it. She also recognized the couple from the description that had spread thoughout all the Fox Clans, thanks to one Jilas. The swordsman's name confirmed it. This was powerful and well-known sorceress, Lina Inverse, and the other, the equally famous Gourry Gabriev. If Jelana could sell to them, perhaps her perfumes would become even more desirable.

"Young man, would you like to have a seat here while your friend works on you?" Jelana offered as she opened a bottle of a perfume, ostensibly to sniff and put a new label on it. She knew it never failed to attract female customers.

"Thank you, ma'm, but I'm fine," he courteously replied.

Lina's nose twitched, and she looked up at the fox woman.

"Good. I have their attention," Jelana exhalted inwardly.

"Hey, Gourry, know what? I'm almost out of my favorite perfume. I'm kinda tired of that fragrance, anyway."

Just then the waitress across the street yelled, "Miss, your ribs are ready!" A red and blue streak dashed across the street.

"Damn!" Jelana growled. To her delight, though, after the couple finished the ribs and a dessert cart, they re-appeared at her booth.

"I know your particular clan of foxes are great at people and perfume matching. What do you recommend for me?" Lina asked as she looked over the various glass containers with their labels, atomizers, and cork stoppers. She noticed one display featured men's cologne. "Yo, Gourry, why don't you get something, too? You really, really need it sometimes."

"Hey, I bathe whenever I can. Being your protector isn't exactly a sweatless job, ya know."

Lina glared, "Just buy some! When I have us in a Ray Wing, there are times you stink so badly I can bearly keep up the spell." She added with a wicked grin, "You wouldn't want me to lose control in mid-air, would you?"

The swordsman shuddered and quickly affirmed, "Ok, ok, I'll buy!"

"I do have a suggeston for you both," Jelana hastely intervened. She turned to a side chest and produced two geometrically shaped bottles that fit into each other like puzzle pieces. The smaller of the bottles contained perfume and the larger, which had a small pump covered by a cap, cologne. One she uncorked and held out to Lina to smell and took off the cap of the other to give to Gourry.

"Ooooo! That is wonderful!" Lina breathed in. "Sorta spicy and fruity. Hmmmm! Gourry, let's check out the pie shops after this!"

"Not bad," was Gourry's typical male comment to his bottle.

"They will smell differently on you as the smells of your own body chemistry blend with them," Jelana informed them. "Here, each of you peel off a glove and put a tiny bit on the underjoints of your wrists. It will take a few minutes before the true fragrances come out. Why don't you tell me about yourselves, if you don't mind? Right now sales are rather slow."

"Oh, I'm the fabulous sorceress, Lina Inverse, and this lunkhead is Gourry Gabriev, master swordsman and master doofus." But the look she gave him made it plain she was only saying that to cover up her true feelings.

Jelana chuckled, "Well, I've heard of you and know you both are rather infa...ah, famous. I'm called Jelana. And what brings you to this city?"

"Ummmm...our feet?" Gourry replied with a vacant expression, but Jelana noticed a tiny odor of good-nataured humor.

On cue Lina groaned. "Ignore him. He's often like this. This guy claims to be my protector, and I can't get rid of him."

As she said this her eyes got their own slightly unfocused look and her arm encircled Gourry's waist. The cringing swordsman looked surprised and stared at his companion. A slow smile spread across his features, and he responded by putting an arm about the shoulders of the small fireball of a young woman. Jelana's eyes twinkled.

Lina continued, "We were just passing through on the way to my home country, and we heard this place has a superb market day. We need new travelling supplies, and I'm always looking for new magical treasures."

"How do those smell now?" asked the fox.

"Mmmm, mine's heavenly!" Lina exclaimed. "Here, Gourry, what do you think?"

The blond sniffed her wrist, "Wow! Lina, you have to buy a bottle. Mine's not bad either. Take a whiff."

As a small smile crossed her face, Lina voiced her approval. "Ok, we'll buy both bottles, if they're not too expensive."

"That'll be 4 gold each."

"They're good, but not that good. 1 gold each."

"The ingrediants are rare oils found in far exotic lands and the bottles are made by the reknowned glass maker, Verre Blowgude. 3 gold and two silver."

"He cranks out lots of perfume bottles. How about two gold and a silver each and a protective ward on your wares? It'll keep the bottles from breaking easily."

"How long will the spell last?" "It's permanent, unless another sorcerer takes it off or a customer purchases a bottle. The ward becomes bonded to your aura. It'll add value to your present stock. My parents swear by it. You have any spell casting abilities?"

"I can manage a few simple spells."

"Tell you what. I'll write it down. If you can master it, you certainly can use it as you replenish your stock."

"Deal."

The females shook hands. Lina made a sad-faced show of producing 4 gold and two sliver and then cast her spell. True to her word, she wrote it down for Jelana. As the sorceress handed it to the vixen, Jelana whispered in her ear, "Just a tiny dab of your perfume between your breasts, and he won't think about the size of them at all. Hee, hee!"

Lina drew back in shock. "Hey, we're not in that kind of relationship!" she quietly hissed back.

"Yet," thought Jelana.

In the meantime, Gourry regarded the proceedings indulgently rather than tuning out as he usually did. After the bargaining was finished and the purchases completed, he suggested, "Hey, Lina, there are signs all over the place talking about some sorta special botanical gardens this town has. There's supposed to be a really romantic lake. Why don't we get some ice cream after the pies and go for a stroll "

Now normally, Mr. Romance Impaired would never have thought of such a thing as a romantic lake, and if he had, Lina, the Denial Queen, would have wondered what was wrong with him. To Jelana's satisfaction, the sorceress only exclaimed, "Sounds good to me!" and linked her arm with his. "'Bye, Jelana. And thanks!" Lina chirped. Gourry echoed her, and both started to walk away.

"Wait a minute," Jelana commanded, and the couple turned around to face her. "I want to make sure you know not to use too much of my fragrances at one time, or you'll be liable to offend as much as if you hadn't bathed. Just two or three small dabs total on your body, Miss Lina, and Mr. Gourry, spray the cologne once or twice in the air over your head, not on your body. Then walk away."

"Thanks again, Jelana!" the couple responded and strolled on to further day's adventures.

Jelana waved and shouted "Thank YOU. Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry!" She rubbed her paws together happily as she smelled their fears of rejection by each other lessen and confidence grow with each step away from her. Maybe one application each of her products would be all that was needed to ensure a good future for their relationship. Her perfumes were just a trigger to set their own body chemistries on the right paths. Whether they replenished their supply of her stock or not would make no difference. She did hope, though, they WOULD purchase more from her and spread the word about her goods, even if they all they knew was that the scents were excellent. They were friends with the royalty of that great trading kingdom, Seyruun, after all.

--------------------------------------------

"Yum, this fudge swirl is almost as good as Seyruun's" Lina exclaimed. "If you gimme a taste of yours, Gourry, I'll even let you have a bit of mine, especially since you paid for both of us."

She held out her cone to him as they slowly made their way down a packed earth path through the sun-dabbled, lush botanical gardens. Tall trees, bushes, and multi-hued flowers lined the pathways; each type of plant had its own label either afixed to it or stuck on metal stakes in the ground.

"Wow, Lina, thanks!"

The swordsman gently encircled the wrist of her proffered hand with his hand to take a steady lick of the icy treat. The double attraction was the ice cream and also the smell of the perfume still remaining on her wrist. The scent was so Lina, lively yet delicate, and somehow different notes kept emerging. As his tongue took lingering advantage of her offer, his eyes gazed at her tenderly. He had never felt so close and comfortable with her before.

"Hey, enough already! My turn!" she squealed as she claimed his own ice cream with her hand likewise on his wrist. The slow play of her tongue on his dessert gave him shivers not related to anything frozen. Lina abruptly stopped licking as the scent of the cologne on his wrist had effect on her. It was clean and pure and reminded her of sunshine on new mown hay. Rolling in the hay. She gulped, but, to her surprise, she didn't feel frightened. The look in his eyes told that he cared deeply for her and would never truly hurt her in any way, despite his wisecracks about her physique, or force her to do anything she wouldn't want to do. His reaction to her licking his ice cream, boosted her confidence immensely, and she allowed a small, wicked smile to flit over her face as she took another slow lick.

Gourry took a deep swallow and cast a glance about to distract himself from dangerous thoughts. "Look, Lina! There's the lake, and it's surrounded by flowering trees and rose bushes," Gourry exclaimed, breaking the "spell" that momentarily held them. He then took her hand to draw her to a water-side bench amongst the flowers. "Let's finish our cones here."

Lina swung her legs up on bench and leaned on the shoulder of his cone-free arm. That arm cautiously crept around her back, and his hand came to rest on her waist. Geese and mandarin ducks swam in the lake, and the couple silently watched the sun reflect on the ripples the swimming fowl created. Sighs of contentment escaped both pairs of lips, but then Lina frowned. "Ya know, we'd both be more comfortable like this if we took off our shoulder armor," she suggested in a low voice. "Help me take mine off?" She batted her eyelashes.

Gourry gave her a startled look at her tone of voice. "Ah, sure. Just a second while I munch the last bit of my ice cream." he popped the remainder in his mouth and happily complied with her request. She then unbuckled his armor. After setting it aside, she resumed her former positon. It felt like not just the burden of their physical armor had been set aside.

Lina sighed, "Mmmm. That's better. Know what? I don't believe I could be as comfortable with anyone else as my protector as I am with you. I don't want to lose you."

"I can't think of anyone else I'd want to protect for the rest of my life," he reassured her.

Lina sat up and faced him. She placed a hand on his thigh and stared up into his face. "Do we know what we are really saying here?" she asked with a tremor in her voice.

He took her chin in his hand and gave her a quick, tender kiss. "I think we do," he whispered confidently as he drew back and looked in her eyes.

Just then a large black and white ball slammed into the back of Lina's head. Fire rose in her eyes as she rubbed the back of her noggin. The hurt didn't bother so much as did the breaking of the romantic moment, the one she'd been waiting for so long. "What the..." she started to swear, but cut back when she saw the frightened, little face of the young girl, whose hair was in two cute, small tails with enormous bows.

"I'm so sorry, miss and mister! The boys said I was too weak to play soccer with them. I wanna show them I can really kick, so I'm practising!"

"Well, you sure can kick. You just need to work on aim!" Lina growled. Her expression softened and she added more gently, "But don't let the little jerks get you down. If you work hard to get strong, I bet you'll put them to shame. I studied hard and exercised lots, and look!" The sorceress grabbed Gourry by the arms and tossed him over her shoulders. Lucky for him it wasn't into the lake, but the soft lawn around the bench.

With a groan, the blond stood and then picked up the ball. "Yeah, you too can learn to abuse your guy friends, if you work at it constantly. Here's your ball, little miss." He knelt down on one knee in front of her and handed the thing to the awed child with one hand and patted her on the head with the other.

The girl smiled shyly at them both and chirped, "Thanks, mister. You, too, miss!" Then she ran swiftly away.

"Gourry, what say we head back to our inn and maybe stop at that new looking restaurant that's supposed to serve one of those huge cocktails they say it takes two people to drink?"

"Yeah, a little alcohol might help my back right now," he agreed. And so they found themselves sitting side by side, sipping a bubbly, alcoholic novelty drink through straws, their heads almost touching.

"If you aren't the cutest couple!" their waitress gushed. "Have you been together long?"

They looked at each other and blushed. "Quite a while, I guess," Lina admitted. "Right, Gourry?"

"Yup. We just realized it." He took her hand and squeezed it carefully.

"Awww. Nice," the waitress commented and moved on to her other customers.

---------------------------------

"Dirty fox! Your kind shouldn't be allowed to take money from real people!" snarled the rather large, weasely-looking drunk. "My girl broke up wit' me because you said we didn't smell right together! Then she goes an' takes up wit' that craphead you said fitted her scent. Ha! You wit' your damn stinkin' stinks talkin' about my smell. I'll fix you, you freak!"

"Yeah, your low kind shouldn't be allowed to sell in the same marketplace as humans. We're gonna have to teach you a lesson, vermin!" one of his several drunken companions threatened.

Holding her breath, Jelana thought, "Spending their profits on booze rather than investing in better quality goods and staying sober might improve their business. It doesn't seem to have registered with them, though." She then offered quietly "Sir, I do have a cologne that might help you find a new love. Would you be interested in that?"

"I don't need any sissy smelling piss water. I just want you and your kind gone forever!" he shouted, "Right, boys?"

"Yeah!" was the roared response.

"I do hope Miss Lina's ward is effective!" Jelana prayed inwardly as she retreated back from her display, her ears laid back and teeth bared. She only knew a few small spells, like lighting, nothing defensive. One paw went to her belt knife hidden by the folds of her skirt; the other searched a pocket for the small pistol that fellow Jilas had sold her. Jelana's eyes searched in desperation for signs of law enforcement officers, although, having experienced prejudices toward her kind in other market cities, she had little hope of aid from the local police. Those humans closest in other booths avoided looking at her, and the busy street became quiet as people disappeared, doors were shut, and booth awnings were drawn down. Others of her clan selling their own goods also quietly closed up and fingered hidden weapons. The vixen knew murder awaited her if she did not resist and probably if she did. Many humans would ignore a plea of self defense from her, if she injured or killed other humans. If a species riot erupted, her people would be in more trouble and more likely to also die violently.

A little whine from under the counter increased her anxiety. Why, oh why hadn't she sent her kits with her husband back to their campsite outside the town? An answering whine from her told her children to stay put.

Hairy arms and large clubs tried to knock over and smash her wares. "Yowch!" "What the ...?" and other curses erupted from the angered gang as they encountered the immovable, ward-protected stock.

"Magic on the goods, huh?" Let's just see how protected your booth and you are, bitch!" Knives and swords were drawn.

A flare arrow suddenly hit the drunk who had originally assulted her with his smell and insulted her with his words. This was followed by a blue and gold blur and flashing, swirling steel, which disarmed and disrobed the threatening thugs.

"I see you had some trash that needed to be taken out, Jelana," a famiiar sorceress' voice stated.

"Are you alright, Jelana?" queried Gourry as he looked her over.

"Yes, thanks to you both and that warding spell. It's ok, kids, you can come out now."

Two small, whimpering, silvery streaks emerged from under the counter and buried their faces in their mother's skirts.

"Sh, sh, dears. It's alright now. Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry have taken care of the bad men. Let me introduce you." She carefully detached the children from her skirts and with a paw on each kit's shoulder gently turned them towards the human couple. "This is Carson and my girl is Maycup."

Gourry replied with his patented kind smile, "Glad to meet you, little ones."

Lina added, "Likewise."

The two children chorused shyly, "Please to meet you, Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry. Thank you for saving us!

Just then several police officers arrived and put irons on the subdued gang. The cops were accompanied by several of the human shop and booth keepers as well as Jelana's clan members.

The officer in charge observed, "We were conducting an extensive investigation at the Dragon Doughnuts when these good citizens informed us of the trouble brewing here. We rushed here as fast as we could, but it looks like this young man and woman have taken good care of everything already."

"Fortunately Gourry and I were closer. About couple blocks down, really. One of the vendors had shut down his booth and ran in to warn people that you were in trouble and might need help,." Lina informed Jelana.

"Uh, oh, Lina. Speaking of the restaurant, we better go back and pay for our drink!"

"Never mind, sir. You prevented a crime and a possible riot. The drink is on the house," interjectd the owner of that particular establishment.

As Lina and Gourry thanked the proprietor, Jelana realized with gratitude that not all the vendors were bigots like the men who had tried to attack her and her business. She had misjudged the suddenly closed shops and booths. Their owners had actually gone for help, instead of turning their backs on her figuratively and literallly. The cynical thought did occur to her that any disturbance would have been bad for business. It was in their best interest to prevent the disgruntled thugs from harming her and her enterprise. Be that as it may, all ended well.

"Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry, you will always be welcome at our booth and camp. We owe you. By the way, there are very good musicians in my family, my husband among them. When you marry, please allow them to play at your wedding!"

The couple looked at each other and blushed. "Um, uh-huh. Whenever. Sure thing. Thanks." Lina squeaked out.

Both Jelana and Gourry noticed there was no denial in Lina's reply. Gourry glowed with happiness but just added his thanks and made no comment. He knew better than to push things too fast at this time.

"Whew, Gourry, after that little bit of exercise, I'm starving again but really tired," exhaled Lina and added, "What say we have dinner and then get a room?"

Gourry's grin almost split his face. "Sure thing, Lina. Whatever you say. 'Bye Jelana. 'Bye, little guys!"

Lina leaned toward Jelana and muttered, "Just a dab between the breasts, huh?"and then grabbing Gourry's arm, she called loudly over her shoulder "Take care!" The couple sauntered across the street to the inn. Jelana and her children waved and returned parting words. The vixen took a good sniff and remarked, "Hmmm. Love is in the air. Quite strongly, I might add!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A while ago I heard a radio report on how people's differing body chemical orders may work on attraction and forming of lasting relationships. Canines have the reputation of having excellent senses of smell, and, since there are humanoid canines in the Slayers' world such as Jelas, this ficcie kinda grew in my mind. To those of you who bridle at original characters in fan fics, tough patooties.

In the anime Lina is red-haired, but in the novels she is a brunette. I imagine for the anime, the directors made her use traditional henna rinses, which can make brunette hair look dark red. ;-D

This spring a Japanese telephone card was for sale, celebrating 15 years of Slayers since the publication of the first novel. On it, Lina and Gourry are sharing a sparkling specialty drink in a large stemmed glass. They've stopped sipping the drink through their straws and are each leaning on one of their hands and looking at each other.


End file.
